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Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) is a venture capital firm located on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley. The firm was named after its four founding partners: Eugene Kleiner (emeritus), Tom Perkins (emeritus), Frank J. Caufield (emeritus), and Brook Byers. The firm was formed in 1972. At that point, the founders of most venture capital firms came from financial backgrounds, however Kleiner Perkins's founders distinguished themselves through their industry experience-Kleiner as a founder of Fairchild Semiconductor and Perkins as one of the leaders of Hewlett-Packard's early computer hardware division. Like other venture capital firms, the firm does not discourage transactions among companies in which it holds a stake. This is similar to the Japanese keiretsu style of company structure. |